Colorful Curiosity
by TheBaritone
Summary: Ever since he met some drug addicted aliens, Wesley has been curious. Now he wants to try some. Takes place after the episode, Symbiosis.


Something had been nagging at the back of Wesley's mind for days. Drugs. Three days ago, Lieutenant Yar had told him about them when a couple of addicted aliens had come aboard the ship. He had asked her why someone would willingly get addicted and she had explained that no one intended to that once they started they couldn't stop. He had asked why they would even start and she had said that they made a person feel powerful and on top of the world. Not to mention _good. _He still hadn't understood and had let the topic go, but now he was curious.

_I wonder if they're as good as they say they are,_ he thought._ Can they really make you feel so powerful and good? I guess the only way to find out is to take some, but why not? _He began to argue with himself.

_You'd become like those aliens, totally dependent on it, _one side of him said.

_No I wouldn't,_ said the other,_ one dose couldn't get me addicted._

_It's possible, you don't know anything about this kind of thing._

_Well if it did make me want more I could tell myself no. I'm smarter than those aliens._

"Wesley!" The sound of the teacher's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. "Pay attention!"

Wesley paid attention for about another minute, then his thoughts turned back to drugs._ I'm too smart to get addicted. I could stop easily. Now, how can I get them?_

"Mom," said Wesley as he stepped into the medical lab three hours later. "Can I hang out in here with you? I have some free time."

Doctor Crusher was hesitant. "I don't know Wesley," she said. "I..."

"Please," he interrupted. "I'll be quiet and I won't touch anything."

"Alright," his mother relented. "But if you don't behave, you have to leave."

Wesley sat quietly in a chair for the next ten minutes until Captain Picard's voice announced, "Doctor Crusher to the bridge."

"Wesley," said the doctor. "Will you be alright by yourself for a few minutes?"

"Yeah Mom." He smiled sweetly. "I'll be fine."

Doctor Crusher left the lab. "Yes!" exclaimed Wesley when she had left. His device that replicated Picard's voice had worked. Knowing he had about five or ten minutes before his very confused mother returned from speaking with a very confused Picard, he set to work looking for a drug called genkaku. After several minutes of looking, he found a small container of it. He lifted the lid slightly and looked inside. The genkaku was in the form of several very small pills. _Should I take one now,_ he wondered. He decided not to. He wasn't sure when his mother would be back and he didn't want her to catch him. He slipped the container into his pocket and sat back in his chair.

Doctor Crusher reentered the lab thirty seconds later. "If you can believe it," she said, her back to him as she resumed her work, "Captain Picard insists he never called me up there. I don't know what's going on."

Wesley just grinned.

Four hours later, Wesley sat alone in his quarters. He had done his research after his classes and had found the genkaku was a narcotic and hallucinogen that had used to be used on Centaurus. It seemed so strange to him that this tiny white pill could make him see things that weren't really there. Wesley was excited. _Well, here goes,_ he thought. He popped the pill in his mouth.

Too late, he realized that he had forgotten to get some water to wash it down. As he tried to work up enough spit to swallow it, the taste of it filled his mouth. It was insanely bitter. _They certainly don't take these things for their taste._

Wesley finally managed to swallow the genkaku. Nothing happened at first and he wondered if he had made a mistake. Then a warm, happy feeling began to spread through his limbs. He stumbled dizzily to his bed. He felt strangely peaceful and _good._ Then the hallucinations started. He heard colors and saw sounds. When he waved his hand in front of his face he heard it moving in slow motion with echoes of itself traveling behind. He lay like that for several hours, though it seemed to Wesley it could have been several minutes or several years. Finally his mother entered the room. He saw her come in, then looked up and heard her walk toward him. The colors of her coat and hair had bright twangy sounds to them, and, like his hand, echoes of her movement trailed behind her.

Doctor Crusher was surprised by the sight of her son lying in bed so early. "Wesley, honey?" she asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Mom," he murmured. "I'm taking a nap." Wesley erupted into giggles.

Doctor Crusher knew the signs of genkaku use, but she never would have guessed that her son had taken it. She guessed that he might be sick. Holding a hand to his head, she felt that he didn't have a fever. "Do you feel alright, Wesley?"

"Yeah Mom. Just sleepy – and nuzzly."

_Nuzzly? What does that mean? It's probably just some kind of slang the kids are using now, _Doctor Crusher thought. She wondered if he was sick, but she would let him get some sleep before she examined him; he didn't seem to bad. Or it could have been another one of his phases. She lived on the Enterprise, after all. She had seen much weirder.

Wesley finally fell asleep. When he woke up several hours later, he felt sick and his head hurt. _The genkaku's wearing off. Time for some more._ Something stopped him. _Wait, I told myself I would only take one._

_But I feel awful._

_If I take another one I could get addicted. The pain will wear off._

_Anything is better than this. I can stop taking it later. For now I just want the pain to go away._

Wesley made his way to the replicator in the tiny dining room and got a glass of water. He took it back to his room and was about to take the pill when he noticed the chronometer. He had to be on the bridge in a minute. He quickly swallowed the pill and gulped down the water after it, the put the glass on his desk. _I have to get dressed,_ he thought, as the warm feeling began to spread. He pulled off his pants and ran down the hall towards the turbo-lift.

For the bridge crew, it was an ordinary day. It was to be spent star-charting and there was nothing on the view-screen except stars. This, of course, made for a very bored bridge crew. "Where is Ensign Crusher?" asked Picard. "He should have been here by now."

Just then the doors of the turbo-lift opened and Wesley burst in, only wearing underwear. "Ensign Crusher," began Picard, "you should have been here..."

"Relax Picard," Wesley interrupted. He pronounced it Pih-curd with no accent. "It's a happy day."

Picard didn't want to deal with the child's antics. "Number One, get him off the bridge," he said.

Riker stood up. "Come on Wesley," he said. The acting ensign followed him.

Once inside the turbo-lift, Wesley wrapped his arms around Riker. "I love you," he said breathily. Riker pulled him off. "We're taking you to sickbay," he muttered.

Once in sickbay, Doctor Crusher rushed toward her son exclaiming, "Wesley are you alright!?" She pulled out her tricorder and her eyes widened.

Wesley spent the next week in painful withdrawal and learned never to use drugs again.


End file.
